Matthew McConaughey To Star In HBO's A Time To Kill Sequel

Matthew McConaughey returning for HBO's adaptation of John Grisham's A Time for Mercy.

by Andrew Pollard
A Time to Kill
Warner Bros.

In some slightly left-field news, Matthew McConaughey is gearing up to return as Jake Brigance 25 years since playing the character in Joel Schumacher’s A Time to Kill.

Via Deadline, HBO recently picked up the rights to John Grisham’s A Time for Mercy – the A Time to Kill follow-up that was published last October – and McConaughey is in advanced talks to headline the project.

The belief is that HBO is looking to develop A Time for Mercy as a miniseries consisting of eight or ten episodes, with Lorenzo di Bonaventura producing this adaptation. Already, meetings have taken place between the network and potential writers for this series.

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In 1996’s A Time to Kill, McConaughey Brigance was a passionate lawyer tasked with defending Carl Lee Hailey (Samuel L. Jackson), a black man accused of murdering two white men who raped his 10-year-old daughter. In addition to McConaughey and Jackson, the picture’s impressive ensemble also included Sandra Bullock, Donald Sutherland, Keifer Sutherland, Ashley Judd, Kevin Spacey, Oliver Platt and Patrick McGooghan.

A Time for Mercy picks things up with Jake Brigance as he’s appointed attorney for a shy 16-year-old boy accused of murdering a local deputy. With locals and officials pushing for the death penalty, Brigance dives deeper into a case that has far more going on that what’s on the surface. Should Matthew McConaughey indeed sign on for A Time for Mercy, this will mark his first major TV role since starring in True Detective's stunning debut season six years ago.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.